Honda GL1200 Goldwing timing belts replacement, with photos and video. There is no official set interval for changing timing belts
on Honda Goldwings, Honda are vague about this and you have to use your own judgement. The Honda Goldwing GL1200 Aspencade
in this article was 26 years old years old with 38,000 miles
when I changed the timing belts. The owner didn't know the history of this
GL1200 when he bought it, and he decided to play it safe and have the timing belts replaced.
Timing belt replacement on the GL1200 is similar to the GL1100 and GL1000
Goldwings. The
Interstate and Aspencade models take a bit longer to work on because of the
extra plastics that have to be removed.

WARNING;Changing Honda Goldwing
timing belts is NOT a job for beginners to take on.Previous experience in changing and setting the tension of timing belts is a
must. It is a good idea to have a Honda Goldwing GL1200 Service Manual to hand
and I do not recommend this job as your first introduction to Honda Goldwing
maintenance. Getting the belt timing or tension wrong is a sure way to bend valves or ruin
your Honda Goldwing engine.

Click the thumbnails for a bigger
image.

All references in this article to
"left" and "right" side are as you sit on the Goldwing, ie
throttle side being the right side.

Put your GL1200 Goldwing onto the
main stand, remove both side panels and saddlebag lids. Disconnect the battery,
to rule out the risk of accidentally cranking the engine when the timing belts
are removed later.

Remove the saddle mounting bolts, 6mm Allen key for the right side and 8mm
Allen key for the left (fore-aft adjuster) side.

To remove the saddle from the Goldwing, push it backwards and up.

Pull the trim pieces up at the rear edge, then backwards to remove them.

Remove the GL1200 faux tank next. Two 10mm bolts at the front...

...and the two at the rear, right side shown here.

Four Phillips screws hold the left pocket down. Unscrew and remove the
pocket.

Carefully lift the faux tank away.

Now for the lower fairing panels, right side shown here. Each panel is held
with five Phillips screws. Don't lose the collar/spacer on each screw.

When you remove the bottom screw, take out the painted cross-piece that sits
between the two lower fairing panels.

When all the screws are out, remove the panel.

Radiator removal next. First remove the radiator cap and the overflow tube
that connects the reservoir/expansion bottle to the radiator neck.

Lower radiator mounts, a 10mm nut
on each side. These nuts also hold the brackets that the lower fairing panels
screw into at the very bottom.

Now place a container under the unbolt the water pump cover housing to catch
the coolant, then unbolt the two 8mm bolts. You may need to tap the cover to
break the seal. Don't lose the large o-ring from the cover.

Pull the radiator forward and then use a Phillips screwdriver to remove the
radiator upper hose from the thermostat housing cover.

Disconnect the radiator fan and remove the radiator.

Removing the timing belt covers, 6mm Allen bolts. It doesn't matter which one
you take off first. Right cover here...

...and left cover here.

Note; Three of the GL1200 timing belt cover
bolts are the same length, the fourth is longer. The longer bolt goes in the
farthest left hole in the left cover. Don't lose the rubber seals and chrome
washers.

Pull the breather hose off, and then unscrew the timing inspection cap from
the top of the engine.

Before removing the old GL1200 timing belts, you need to
rotate the engine so that the crankshaft and both camshaft pulleys are correctly
lined up with the marks on the engine. It is extremely
important that you pay attention to what you are doing here. If you have any
doubts or are unsure you should get a professional in to help. First two pictures below show the crankshaft
being rotated and the T1 mark on the crankshaft lined up with the mark on the
edge of the timing inspection hole. Rotate the crankshaft (19mm bolt) slowly
clockwise (or anti-clockwise if you prefer, I always go clockwise because there
is no risk of loosening the bolt) until the T1 is lined up as shown.

The timing marks on the camshaft pulleys should now be lined up with the
marks on the outer edge of the engine as shown in the next pictures. If they are
180% off, rotate the crankshaft another full turn until the T1 mark is again
lined up with the mark on the edge of the timing inspection hole. Remember that
two full 360% crankshaft rotations equals one full 360% rotation of the camshaft
pulleys.
It's a good idea to mark the crankshaft pulley and engine block with Tippex or
white paint when you have everything aligned. This saves you having to keep
running around to the timing inspection hole to check if the crankshaft moved
(it can move very easily). I didn't use Tippex at this stage and only remembered
later on. I added that for the video (you will see the Tippex step lower down
the page) so you can see how useful it is.

A closer look at the timing marks correctly set up. Note that the raised dot
on each cam pulley are the correct timing marks, and they line up with the mark
on the edge of the cover as shown below. The right pulley may have another mark
(see left picture below) and this is not the correct mark for setting GL1200 belt
timing. To avoid errors, look at the UP mark on each pulley. UP should be at 12
o'clock up.

With the timing marks all lined up correctly, the timing
belt tensioners need to be slackened off and locked in the slackened position to
allow the belts to come off. Start with the belt on the right side. This is a
good time to check the condition of the timing belt tensioners. Spin them
to make sure the bearings are not rough and that there isn't any excessive play
in them. Also check the surfaces where the timing belts run along the tensioners.
There should be no pitting or roughness.Note; when removing the belts, one or both
cam pulleys may spring out of position. In this case it was the right one that
moved (you can see it better in the video at the end of the page). This isn't a
big deal so long as you remember to move it back into position when fitting the
new timing belts.

Now for the left belt. If the belt won't clear the crankshaft pulley where it
meets the lower pulse generator at the closest point, rotate it a very small bit
so the belt clears the pulley. When you take the belt away you can rotate the
crankshaft back so the T1 mark is lined up again.

Here is the Tippex being applied, after again checking the crankshaft T1 mark
is aligned. It is better to do this earlier, but still
came in useful even at this stage. Before you fit the new timing belts, clean
around the area to get rid of any debris and dirt.

New Gates 5043 timing belts. There is no shortage of choices of GL1200 timing
belts. Gates also supply the T070. You also have Quinton Hazell QTB142, Napa
250070, Dayco 95070, ADT37501 and some lesser known brands. Please don't contact me
asking which is the best belt to use or where to buy them, you can get advice on our forum
herefrom the great members who help fellow Goldwing owners every day.

Check the timing marks again (and again...), and fit the left timing belt
first. Then release the belt tensioner and let it drop against the belt. Very
often on Goldwings, the tensioner spring is too weak to pull the tensioner down enough,
sometime pressing the belt down gently with a finger (3rd & 4th picture below) helps settle
the tensioner, but don't lever them with a screwdriver. In some cases, you may need to gently push the tensioner against
the belt. Light tension is all you need, and you should have between 5-7mm of
play on the long side of each timing belt (opposite each tensioner). Don't overdo it
and remember that these are not fan belts, otherwise you risk damaging the tensioner bearings.
Don't
have them too slack either or the belts will slop about and hit the timing belt
covers when the engine is running.
This part of the job is where previous
experience in fitting timing belts is invaluable. Tighten the 12mm bolts when
you are satisfied, you will be rechecking the free play when you rotate the
engine to check the timing marks again. If you don't have the feel for
tensioning the belts, it would be a good idea to get someone with experience to
do this part of the job for you.

Now fit the right side belt, after first checking that the right camshaft
pulley is aligned properly. Remember, this is the one that sprung out of place
when I removed the old timing belt. Set the tension as described already. Check
the other camshaft pulley and the crankshaft to make sure they didn't move while
you were fitting this belt.

Once again and before we rotate the crankshaft, check all the timing marks.

Now it is time to rotate the crankshaft, two complete 360° turns, the Tippex
marks you made earlier will help you. The first complete turn will have the
camshaft pulleys half way (180°) around, and the second complete turn will bring
them the rest of the way around to their timing marks. At this point the
crankshaft T1 mark should be aligned with the mark on the edge of the timing
inspection hole, and both camshaft pulleys should be aligned with the marks on
the engine case as shown in the pictures above and below. If everything is lined
up and the belts tension feels right, you can put the covers back on.

Refit the timing belt covers. Remember the longest bolt goes in the left
cover towards the outside. The rubber seal strips can be a pain to keep in place
and it is okay to use a small amount of glue to keep them on the timing belt
covers while you refit them. The last thing you want is for one of those strips
to fall in and get caught in the timing belts.

Refit the radiator to the Goldwing. Fit the upper hose first and that will hold the radiator
steady while you reconnect the fan switch and sit the radiator onto the mounts.
Make sure the rubber blocks on top of the radiator sit snug against the frame,
and that you refit the collars in the rubbers on the bottom mounts before
fitting the brackets for the lower fairing panels to screw into. Bolt up the
water pump housing cover and make sure the large o-ring is in place.

Now fill the radiator with coolant. I used photos from a GL1200 Standard to
show this, the absence of a fairing on the Standard will give you a better view
of the work. Once you have some coolant in the radiator, it is time to start the
engine. Once the engine is running, blip the throttle to burp any trapped air
out of the radiator. Once all the air is gone, top up the radiator and put the
cap on. Then fill the reservoir/expansion bottle to the fill line.

The rest of the job is just reassembly of the parts you already removed.
Lower fairing panels, faux tank, saddle etc. This is the lower fairing panel on
the left side.

The saddle and other bits and pieces are easy to refit. If you got this far,
you don't need any further help from me.If you do need to ask any
questions, please post them on our forum
hereand you will get all the help you needfrom the great
members there.